Welcome to this lesson of our Growth Hacking Academy on building an online business.
Selling online, building an online business from scratch, or pushing one that has only just started, is a fairly complex subject — one growth hacking can simplify.
If you’re new here, the advice is to start with the first lessons of our Academy, where we explain what this broad subject covers, which professional roles you’ll meet, and the first moves to make in digital business.
If you’re already established in this world, let’s not waste time and look at how to do business online, how to lay the foundations of a profitable business in digital marketing, and how to succeed with all the tools and strategies the digital world offers.
Enough preamble — let’s begin.
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How to start a business: the basics of growth hacking
Before looking in detail at how to build an online business, let’s step back and quickly revisit what growth hacking is and what to weigh when starting one.
In a sense it’s considered the future of marketing, although it’s very much of the present. We’re talking about a business approach that brings different disciplines together to develop a strategy aimed at strong results.
Creativity and analysis sit at the heart of this discipline which, together with the tools typical of digital marketing, will help you reach the goals you have in mind. There are many different strategies you can put in place, and every business has its own peculiarities that have to be taken into account — and, above all, tested — in order to build an online business.
Our aim in this lesson is to understand the steps and the tools we want, or can, use to build an online business, and we’ll also look at some examples of profitable ventures you can start yourself with no initial investment.
Ready? Let’s go.
How to start
Let’s open with a great truth: not every online business needs substantial capital. You can start a venture without, at least initially, much money to invest.
The internet, and digital marketing generally, offers countless possibilities to anyone with a potentially successful idea who has decided to bring it into the light.
I won’t mislead you. To build an online business — whether tied to a product or service, and therefore selling online, or mainly about visibility, such as starting a blog — the time you’ll have to give this new venture is considerable, and you’ll have to commit to it.
But if you have a passion and want to turn it into work, your chances of success are good.
First, some key things to pin down:
- Goal and deadline: is your goal to sell, to be known, to interact? Is the deadline now, soon, medium to long term? A tip: write these goals down and keep them in mind.
- Audience: B2B or B2C?
- Platform: a website on WordPress, an ecommerce store on Magento, a social network?
- Source of income: if you sell through an ecommerce platform the income comes from selling products or services — but what if you’re writing a blog? Find a way to earn from what you do, by selling guides or ebooks, for instance. If you’re writing a blog it means your knowledge of a given subject is certainly greater than that of the people reading you. Make use of that knowledge. Consultancy is a source of income generally, but consulting means staying informed and current — and that, as we know, takes time.
Having those points clear is the first step to building an online business. Always remember that you need a well-defined strategy in mind and that you can’t act in a muddled, inconsistent way.
Need a list of growth hacking tools?
Need tools to grow your business? Want to use growth hacking for your clients and work out which tools are available? No problem, we’ll give you the full list. FREE!
Request the free growth hacking tool list
Building an online business: tools to know
So we can consider you a future digital entrepreneur — and as such you’ll have to think about what your main business tool will be, and which will be the secondary ones supporting the work.
To build an online business, these are the basic tools to know:
- Tailor Brands (go to site) if you’re moving on to creating your brand identity, or logos generally.
- WordPress (here) and Magento (main site): want to open a website or an ecommerce store? These are the two platforms you have to know inside out, and they’ll become the tool and the way you interact with your customers, current and prospective.
- Canva (find it here): for creating worthwhile graphics and images at no cost.
- Mailchimp (click here): once you’re in full swing you’ll need to start sending informational or commercial communications to your customers — emails and newsletters.
- Google Analytics (here): once you’re up and running, the moment will come when you want to analyse how things are going, through the specific KPIs you set at the start.
Those are only some of the tools you’ll absolutely have to know for building a business online. Beyond them there are others we’ve covered, and will cover, across the lessons of the Growth Hacking Academy. Everything keeps changing, so you can’t and mustn’t stop learning — and you have to dig into even the most hidden details.
Other tools needed to support your online business are the social networks, the undisputed stars of this category as the perfect shop window for reaching your audience.
Starting an online business: the first moves
Now that you’ve begun the analysis needed to lay the foundations of an online business, you’re ready for the adventure.
If you still feel unsure and don’t have a clear picture of what a successful idea for building an online business might be, let’s look at some examples that changed the lives of the people who took them on.
A future digital entrepreneur’s goal isn’t always tied to selling online, even if many of the success stories belong to ecommerce.
What examples can you follow if you’re trying to build an online business?
Blogger
I won’t dwell too long here, given how many success stories there are to take as examples.
The first choice you have to make is certainly the subject. Don’t fall into the temptation of covering several things — specialise in one.
Fashion, food, fitness? It’s true the competition is fierce, but nothing is impossible: just find the style and tone that set you apart and start communicating in your own way.
Building this kind of business can be done with or without a budget. With WordPress you can build yourself a site or a blog entirely on your own and update it however you like with themes and plugins. The domain will be tied to WordPress, but as soon as you’ve got the hang of it you can buy a fully custom one.
Ecommerce manager
If instead your business idea is about selling online, ecommerce is certainly for you. As WordPress is for blogs, there are platforms you can start using yourself for selling online: WooCommerce — a WordPress plugin — or Magento.
Selling products or services comes with a whole set of regulations you absolutely have to know, but here too, with little money and plenty of appetite, you can build an online business.
YouTuber
Social networks have opened countless routes to success.
One profession born and grown over time is tied to the YouTube platform, the definitive successor to “old” television.
No initial budget needed, only warmth and appetite. You can happily use your computer’s webcam and microphone and start recording and uploading video to your channel.
The numbers successful YouTubers reach are striking — numbers brands watch closely for sponsorships and collaborations.
Social media manager
Finally, social media generally: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
If you can use them, organically and for paid promotion, then the role of social media manager may suit you. You can become a genuine consultant in this world, meet people in person or over Skype (there are Skype coaches now), and put your knowledge at other people’s service, for a fee.
In short, your way of earning through your greatest passion.
Conclusion
Here we are at the end of this lesson on building an online business from our Growth Hacking Academy.
As we’ve seen, nothing is out of reach, particularly when there’s real appetite and an idea you yourself consider a winner.
Obviously the competition is fierce, so it’s worth investing your time and energy in something you genuinely believe in. Building a business online is doable, once a few fundamentals are settled: goal, KPIs, audience and the platform you’ll build on.
If you enjoyed our lesson on building an online business, stay tuned to your favourite Growth Hacking Academy.
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